L  A 


UC-NRLF 


O 


GIFT   OF 


13 

The  Plain  Truth 

About  The  High  School  Situation 
In  Harrisburg 


I.     The  Question   to    Be  Voted   Upon  Novem- 
ber 7,  1916. 

II.     Letter  of  the  Citizens'  Committee. 

III.  Recommendation     of     President     and     City 
Superintendent  to  the  High  School  Committee. 

IV.  Report  of  School  Expert,  Dr.  James  H.  Van 
Sickle,  of  Springfield,  Mass. 


Trr-rTTTr,,,,  -,  ";,    ?  t?'  >  - ' 


Issued  for  the  Information  of  Voters  by 

The  Harrisburg  School  District, 

» ^ 

Harrisburg,  Pa. 


d 


The  Question  to  be  Voted  Upon  November  7,  1916. 


The  question  to  be  submitted  to  the  voters  of  Harrisburg 
at  the  General  Election  of  November  7,  1916,  is  as  follows : 

"Shall  the  indebtedness  of  the  School  District  of 
the  City  of  Harrisburg  be  increased  one  million  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  ($1,250,000)  for 
the  purpose  of  erecting,  altering,  enlarging,  furnish- 
ing and  equipping  buildings  for  senior  and  junior  high 
schools,  and  purchasing  building  sites  therefor." 

This  High  School  Loan  ballot  will  be  found  on  the  general 
election  ballot. 


II. 
Letter  of  the  Citizens'  Committee. 


September  14,  1916. 
DR.  WILLIAM  N.  YATES,  Chairman, 
and  Committee  on  High  School, 
Harrisburg  School  Board, 
Harrisburg,  Pa. 

GENTLEMEN  : 

The  following  were  appointed  by  your  Committee  as  a 
Citizens'  Committee  to  consult  and  advise  with  you  regarding 
the  plans,  etc.,  for  the  relief  of  the  Central  High  School,  and 
we  have,  with  great  interest,  met  with  you. 

We  have  carefully  read,  considered  and  discussed  the  reports 
of  Dr.  Snyder  and  Dr.  Van  Sickle,  as  well  as  the  report  of  your 
Special  Committee. 

It  is  evident  to  us  that  the  School  Board  has  given  to  this 
subject  most  careful  and  intelligent  thought  and  study,  and 
your  conclusions  are  confirmed  by  the  opinions  of  the  experts 
above  referred  to. 

There  can  be  no  question  at  all  of  the  immediate  and  press- 
ing need  of  relief  in  the  school  situation,  and  our  opinion, 
formed  after  several  conferences  with  you,  as  well  as  from 
careful  study  of  the  reports,  is  unanimous  in  approving  the 
report  of  your  Special  Committee. 

The  estimates  of  cost,  as  outlined  therein,  seem  to  have 
been  well  worked  out,  but  realizing  that  estimates  can  not 
be  exact,  we  would  suggest,  in  order  to  provide  for  probable 
advance  in  labor  and  materials,  that  the  amount  of  the  pro- 
posed loan  be  made  $1,250,000.00.  In  making  this  suggestion, 
we  do  so  with  the  confidence  that  only  the  minimum  amount 
necessary  would  be  used. 

We  are,  therefore,  unanimous  in  approving  the  report  of 
your  Special  Committee  and  strongly  recommend  to  the  elec- 
torate their  hearty  approval  and  support  of  the  loan. 

Very  truly  yours, 

ARTHUR  D.  BACON. 
WILLIAM  M.  DONALDSON. 
FRANCIS  J.  HALL. 
WILLIAM  JENNINGS. 
GEORGE  A.  SHREINER. 


III. 


Report  of  President  and  City  Superintendent  to  High  School 

Committee. 


HARRISBURG,  PA.,  August  25,  1916. 
To  the  Members  of  the  High  School  Committee. 
GENTLEMEN  : 

The  undersigned  have  been  delegated  by  you  to  suggest  a 
definite  plan  for  the  relief  of  the  Central  High  School.  In 
carrying  out  your  instructions  we  have  carefully  considered 
the  voluminous  statistical  and  other  data  gathered  by  your 
Committee  and  its  various  sub-committees,  the  survey  of  the 
high  school  situation  as  it  then  existed,  made  in  the  Spring 
of  1912  by  Dr.  Henry  Snyder,  of  Jersey  City,  the  survey  of 
Dr.  James  H.  Van  Sickle,  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  recently  made, 
pertinent  data  appearing  in  the  records  of  the  School  District, 
together  with  all  other  facts,  conditions  and  circumstances 
that  it  seemed  to  us  might  properly  have  a  bearing  upon  the 
question.  We  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  report  and 
recommendation : 

Inasmuch  as  most  of  the  pertinent  data  has  been  considered 
fully  by  Dr.  Snyder  and  Dr.  Van  Sickle  in  their  excellent 
reports  on  the  local  high  school  situation,  much  of  it  being 
incorporated  in  them,  we  deem  it  fitting  tt>  use  these  reports 
very  largely  as  the  basis  of  the  present  review. 

The  two  experts  agree  in  most  of  the  essential  particulars, 
the  important  points  of  agreement  being  as  follows : 

1.  Need  of  High  School  Relief.    Briefly  stated,  both  reports 
conclude  that  the  present  building  is,   (a)   of  insufficient  ca- 
pacity,   (b)    inadequately   supplied  with   facilities   for  proper 
academic  work,  and  (c)   entirely  lacking  in  facilities  for  the 
physical   education   of   pupils   and   physical   comfort   of   both 
pupils  and  teachers. 

2.  Necessary  Equipment  of  High  School  Building.    In  Sec- 
tion 4  of  his  report  Dr.  Snyder  specified  the  accommodations 
and  facilities  which  should  be  provided  to  meet  modern  edu- 
cational ideas  and  demands.     Dr.  Van   Sickle  refers  to  this 
list  and  approves  it  insofar  as  it  relates  to  girls.     Specifically 
it  is  recommended  that  the  building  contain : 

(a)  Recitation,    study   and    lecture    rooms,    lunch    room,    principal's 
office    and    reception    room,    library,    music    rooms,    teachers'    rooms, 
pupils'   rest  room,  work  room  for  janitors,  and  auditorium. 

(b)  A  general  stock  room  .and  stock  rooms  for  laboratories  and  the 
sewing  department. 


(c)  Laboratories  for  physics,  chemistry,  biology,  and  physiography. 
Also,    special    laboratories    and    workshops    for    instructors.      Photo- 
graphic dark  room. 

(d)  Provisions  for  household  economics,  including  sewing  and  fit- 
ting rooms,  kitchen  and  pantries,  household  suite,  and  laundry. 

(e)  Toilets  on  every  floor,  drinking  fountains,  and  complete  gym- 
nasium facilities. 

(f)  Elevator  for  books  and  supplies. 

(g)  Electrical  equipment,  telephone  equipment,  automatic  clock  sys- 
tem,   safety   provisions.  * 

(h)  The  usual  modern  provisions  for  heating  and  ventilating,  puri- 
fying and  humidifying  the  air,  and  cleaning  the  plant. 

3.  Location.     Both  reports  agree  that  the  new  high  school 
building  should  be  centrally  located  and  easily  accessible. 

4.  Junior   High   Schools.      Both   reports   concur   as   to   the 
soundness  of  the  educational  principle  involved.     Dr.  Snyder 
recommends   the   junior   high   school   plan   as   an   alternative 
proposition,  with  the  present  Central  High  School  building 
as   a   senior   high   school.     Dr.   Van   Sickle   recommends   the 
junior  high  school  plan  without  alternative. 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  remembered  that  since  the 
Snyder  report  was  written,  in  the  Spring  of  1912,  our  high 
school  attendance  has  increased  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
Central  High  School  building  could  not  now  accommodate 
all  of  the  students  enrolled  at  the  present  time  in  the  three 
upper  classes.  Also  that  during  the  four  years  that  have 
elapsed  since  the  preparation  of  this  report,  the  junior  high 
school  idea  has  become  firmly  fixed  as  an  educational  policy, 
and  that  hundreds  of  such  schools  have  been  organized  or 
are  now  in  process  of  organization  in  all  sections  of  the 
country.  The  plan  has  the  recent  endorsement  of  the  United 
States  Bureau  of  Education,  of  the  National  Educational  As- 
sociation, the  various  state  associations,  and  nearly  all  educa- 
tors of  prominence  in  public  school  work.  In  our  own  State 
of  Pennsylvania,  also,  the  junior  high  school  plan  is  ,rapidly 
becoming  the  standard. 

We  shall  now  discuss  briefly  two  points  upon  which  these 
two  reports  seem  to  differ: 

1.  Cost.  The  Snyder  report  guaranteed  to  make  provision 
for  our  high  school  needs  until  1918  only.  This  period  will 
liave  elapsed  before  the  Van  Sickle  plan  could  be  completed,  if 
adopted.  The  latter  plan  takes  care  of  our  high  school  en- 


rollment  until  1925  or  1927.  Such  a  difference  of,  time  has 
its  bearing  upon  the  question  of  cost,  and  this,  in  turn,  has 
much  to  do  with  evolving  a  final  plan  of  operation. 

The  Snyder  report  estimated  the  total  cost  of  a  co-educa- 
tional high  school  in  1912,  not  including  site  and  equipment, 
as  $450,000.  Assuming,  for  the  purposes  of  comparison,  that 
the  site  and  equipment  would  cost  $250,000  additional,  we 
have  a  total  cost  of  $700,000,  to  say  nothing  of  the  higher 
present  cost  of  labor  and  materials.  To  this  Dr.  Snyder  would 
to-day  be  compelled  to  add  at  least  $275,000  for  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  Technical  High  School,  including  site  and  equip- 
ment, for  this  building  has  nearly  reached  its  capacity  on  the 
basis  of  its  present  organization.  Furthermore,  he  would  be 
obliged  to  add  to  his  total  estimate  for  a  Central  High  School 
an  amount  necessary  to  make  his  plan  reach  as  far  into  the 
future  as  Dr.  Van  Sickle's  plan.  A  conservative  estimate  as  to 
this  additional  cost  might  be  placed  at  $100,000,  which  would 
make  a  grand  total  of  at  least  $1,075,000 — and  probably  more — 
for  high  school  improvement  only,  affording  no  relief  in  the 
elementary  grades.  At  the  opening  of  the  schools  in  Septem- 
ber, 1916,  there  will  not  be  a  vacant  classroom  on  the  Hill  and 
there  will  be  only  eight  vacant  classrooms  in  the  up-town 
district,  indicating  the  necessity  for  immediate  relief  in  the 
elementary  grades  in  the  construction  of  new  buildings. 

The  Van  Sickle  plan  would  seem  to  involve  the  following 
possible  expenditure : 

New  Girls'  High  School  and  Equipment, $380,000 

Site  for  same, 200,000 

Enlarging  and  Equipping  Technical  High 

School, 175,000 

Site  for  same, 100,000 

Enlargement  of  Camp  Curtin  building, 60,000 

Remodeling  Central  High  School  building,  .  . .  75,000 
Erection  and  Equipment  of  Junior  High  School 

building, 200,000 


Total,  $1,190,000 

This  plan  of  high  school  organization,  it  should  be  remem- 
bered takes  care  not  only  of  the  high  school  pupils  as  now 
graded,  but  the  seventh  and  eighth  grade  pupils  of  the  city  as 
well.  It  will  throw  open  abolft  50  rooms  in  the  several  elemen- 


tary  school  buildings  of  the  city,  making  them  available  for 
the  use  of  pupils  of  the  first  six  grades  and  obviating  the  nec- 
essity of  constructing  additional  schools  for  these  grades  for 
a  number  of  years.  Only  about  one-fourth  of  the  pupils  of 
the  junior  high  school  will  correspond  to  those  now  designated 
as  high  school  freshmen,  the  remaining,  three-fourths  consist- 
ing of  pupils  of  the  higher  grammar  grades.  There  will  be, 
as  Dr.  Van  Sickle  estimates,  appproximately  2,250  junior  High 
school  pupjls  in  the  city  in  1917  and  approximately  2,400  in 
1918.  Three-fourths  of  this  number,  or  1,800,  will  correspond 
to  pupils  at  present  enrolled  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades 
in  the  various  school  buildings  of  the  city.  It  will  readily  be 
seen  that  the  transferring  of  these  pupils  to  the  junior  high 
schools  will  make  available  the  rooms  vacated  for  the  use  of 
normal  additions  to  the  school  enrollment  of  the  first  six 
grades.  The  vacating  of  50  rooms  ought  to  mean,  under  norj 
mal  conditions  of  growth,  that  no  additional  elementary 
schools  need  be  constructed  in  the  near  future.  On  the  basis 
of  normal  increase  these  50  rooms  should  take  care  of  our 
elementary  school  population  for  seven  or  eight  years  at  least. 
A  conservative  estimate  would  place  the  value  of  school  con- 
struction that  this  vacant  space  represents  at  $300,000,  or  an 
equivalent  to  the  cost  of  three  buildings  of  the  type  of  the 
Shimmell  or  the  Steele  building.  The  amount  of  $300,000, 
therefore,  may  very  properly  be  deducted  from  the  Van  Sickle 
cost  estimate,  or  added  to  the  Snyder  estimate,  in  making 
comparisons  as  to  cost  of  accommodations  extending  over  a' 
period  of  seven  or  eight  years.  Should  this  be  done,  there 
appears  to  be  a  difference  of  about  $200,000  in  eventual  cost 
in  favor  of  the  Van  Sickle  plan. 

2.  Co-education.  Both  reports  agree  as  to  the  value  of  co- 
education as  an  educational  policy,  Dr.  Snyder,  however,  recom- 
mending a  school  for  both  sexes  and  Dr.  Van  Sickle,  owing 
to  local  conditions,  recommending  separation. 

A  number  of  elements  have  entered  into  the  problem  during 
the  four  years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  Snyder  report, 
among  the  most  important  of  which  are  the  following : 

(a)  The  Technical  High  School  Enrollment  This  enrollment  in 
1911-12  was  but  262,  while  in  1915-16  it  was  456.  Thus  it  is  imperative 
to  consider  the  enlargement  of  the  Technical  High  School  in  any 
satisfactory  solution  of  the  general  high  school  problem. 


(b)  The  Drift  of  Boys  to  the  Technical  High  School.     The  per- 
centage of  first  year  high  school  boys  in  the  Technical  High  School 
in  September,  1912,  was  65.3;  in  September,  1916,  it  will  be  75  to  80. 
Statistics  indicate  that  this  percentage  has  been  steadily  increasing. 

(c)  The  Relative  Enrollment  of  Boys  and  Girls  in  the  Central  High 
School.     In  September,  1912,  there  were  in  this  school  299  boys  and 
588  girls,  or  33.7  per  cent,  boys  and  66.3  girls.     In  September,  1916, 
there  will  be,  approximately,  275  boys  and  850  girls,  or  a  percentage 
ratio  of  24.5  to  75.5. 

(d)  The  Demand  for  Latin  in  the  Technical  High  School.     Many 
parents  desire  their  boys  to  take  Latin  and  at  the  same  time  to  have 
the  advantage  of  shop  training.    The  boys  themselves  also  are  asking 
this  privilege.     The  Principal  has  consistently  recommended  for  sev- 
eral years  that  Latin  be  introduced.     Technical  colleges  are  accepting 
Latin  as  a  language  equivalent  for  entrance. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  Dr.  Van  Sickle's  arguments  in  favor 
of  his  Plan  C,  whereby  all  high  school  boys  of  the  city  would 
attend  the  enlarged  Technical  High  School  and  all  girls  would 
be  accommodated  in  a  new  building,  appear  to  be  conclusive. 
Our  opinion  is  in  agreement  that  the  ground  has  been  thor- 
oughly c@vered  and  that  the  best  interests  of  the  city  lead  to 
the  adoption  of  Dr.  Van  Sickle's  recommendations. 

Your  committee  therefore  recommends: 

1.  That  the  Van  Sickle  report  be  accepted,  as  representing 
the  general  plan  of  action  of  the  Board  in  the  settlement  of 
the  high  sahool  problem. 

Specifically,  this  plan  provides  for  a  new  centrally  located 
high  school  for  girls,  the  enlargement  of  the  Technical  High 
School  and  the  transfer  of  all  boys  to  this  institution,  the 
adoption  of  the  junior  high  school  plan  as  outlined,  including 
the  erection  of  a  new  junior  high  school  on  the  Hill  and  the 
remodeling  of  the  Camp  Curtin  building  and  the  present 
Central  High  School  building  for  junior  high  school  uses,  and 
the  complete  equipment  of  all  these  schools. 

Of  course  it  is  impossible  to  forecast  the  future  with  cer- 
tainty, but  based  upon  past  experience  as  to  rate  of  increase 
of  school  population,  the  relative  increases  in  the  various 
grades,  and  the  relative  increases  in  the  various  parts  of  the 
city,  it  is  our  best  judgment  that  with  the  adoption  of  this 
program,  the  building  needs  of  the  District  will  be  substan- 
tially met  for  approximately  ten  years  to  come. 


2.  It  is  recommended  that  the  matter  of  bonding  the  School 
District  to  the  amount  of  $1,190,000,  for  the  purposes  above 
outlined,  be  submitted  to  the  voters  of  the  city  for  their  ap- 
proval at  the  November,  1916,  election.  This  amount  repre- 
sents the  total  estimate  of  the  cost  of  the  Van  Sickle  plan, 

Respectfully  submitted, 

A.  C.  STAMM,  President, 

F.  E.  DOWNES,  Superintendent, 

Committee. 


IV. 


Report  of  School  Expert  Dr.  James  H.  Van  Sickle, 
of  Springfield  Mass. 


SPRINGFIELD,  MASS.,  August  1,  1916. 

REV.  WILLIAM  N.  YATES,  D.  D., 

Chairman  Special  High  School  Committee. 
DEAR  SIR: 

In  response  to  the  invitation  extended  to  me  by  your  com- 
mittee to  examine  the  special  problems  presented  by  the  high 
school  situation  in  your  city,  I  present  herein  my  report. 

My  commission  is  included  in  the  following  statement  of 
instructions  formulated  by  your  committee : 

"The  points  to  be  covered  in  the  high  school  investigation 
are  as  follows : 

1 — The  present  need  of  relief  for  the  Central  High  School. 

2 — If  there  be  need,  then  the  accommodations  and  facilities  that 
should  be  provided  to  meet  modern  and  approved  educational  ideas 
and  demands,  including  the  location  of  the  necessary  building  or 
buildings. 

3 — The  probable  cost  of  the  project,  including  furnishings,  but  not 
site  or  sites. 

A — The  probable  length  of  time  that  such  building  or  buildings  will 
meet  the  high  school  needs  of  the  community." 

10 


I  shall  discuss  these  points  in  the  order  in  which  they  are 
stated. 

1.  The  need  of  relief  for  the  Central  High  School.  This  is 
so  evident  that  there  is  little  occasion  to  elaborate  arguments 
in  proof  of  the  proposition.  The  present  enrollment  of  the 
school  is  far  in  excess  of  the  capacity  of  the  building.  The 
building  would  be  fully  occupied  if  only  550  pupils  were  en- 
rolled in  it.  To  accommodate  the  present  enrollment  of  946 
the  school  has  to  be  divided  into  two  groups,  each  group 
attending  but  four  hours  per  day.  This  greatly  handicaps 
the  work  and  places  both  teachers  and  pupils  at  a  serious  dis- 
advantage. A  five  hour  session  is  the  shortest  that  has  been 
found  satisfactory  elsewhere  and  there  is  now  a  distinct  ten- 
dency to  extend  the  school  day  beyond  the  five  hour  limit  in 
order  that  lessons  may  be  prepared  during  school  hours  under 
the  wise  supervision  of  the  teachers.  Hearing  pupils  recite 
lessons  which,  under  many  disadvantages,  they  have  learned 
at  home  is  ceasing  to  be  considered  the  chief  duty  of  the 
teacher.  Teaching  pupils  to  study  is  rapidly  becoming  a  more 
important  service.  But  this  is  a  service  which  teachers  can 
render  only  under  conditions  which  permit  the  adoption  of  a 
longer  school  day  than  is  possible  in  the  Central  High  School. 

In  many  important  respects  the  building  is  unsuited  to  much 
of  the  work  which  pupils  must  do,  especially  in, the  later  years 
of  a  high  school  course.  The  laboratories  both  for  physics 
and  chemistry  are  seriously  lacking  in  space.  On  this  account, 
adequate  equipment  can  not  be  installed.  This  is  equally  true 
of  biology  and  physiography.  Furthermore  the  crowded  con- 
ditions are  such  that  laboratory  and  class  work  must  pro- 
ceed in  the  same  room  at  the  same  time.  Facilities  for  physical 
training  are  wholly  lacking.  No  high  school  can  be  considered 
suitable  which  fails  to  provide  for  the  physical  well-being  of 
its  students.  A  well  equipped  gymnasium  is  therefore  an 
absolute  necessity  in  a  modern  high  school.  Library  facilities 
are  sadly  lacking,  as  are  study  rooms  and  rooms  for  manual 
and  household  arts.  The  assembly  room  is  badly  placed  and 
there  is  no  space  in  the  building  which  might  accommodate 
pupils  during  a  luncheon  period.  Many  other  critcisms  might 
be  made  without  over-emphasizing  the  facts  of  the  case ;  but 
in  view  of  the  discussion  of  the  subject  that  has  been  going 
on  for  several  years  and  the  apparent  unanimity  of  public 
opinion  which  has  resulted  from  this  discussion,  we  may  now 
consider  the  need  of  relief  established  and  pass  to  the  next 
phase  of  the  problem. 

11 


2.  Accommodations  and  Locations.  The  peculiar  shape  of 
the  city,  its  rapid  but  steady  growth,  the  two  main  directions 
in  which  growth  is  taking  place,  together  with  the  direction 
which  transportation  lines  now  take  and  which  they  will  in- 
evitably continue  to  take,  are  circumstances  which  make  the 
problem  before  us  definite,  though  not  easy  of  solution.  The 
policy  of  partial  segregation  of  the  sexes  which  the  city  en- 
tered upon,  when  in  1904  it  erected  a  technical  high  school  for 
boys,  complicates  the  problem. 

I  am  indebted  to  the  chairman  and  members  of  the  special 
high  school  committee,  the  superintendent  of  schools  and  the 
secretary  of  the  Board  for  valuable  historical  and  statistical 
data. 

The  report  on  the  high  school  situation  made  by  Superin- 
tendent Snyder,  of  Jersey  City,  three  years  ago,  and  the  Arnold 
report  to  the  Municipal  League  of  Harrisburg  on  the  Market 
Square  Terminal,  made  in  June,  1915,  have  thrown  much  light 
upon  various  phases  of  the  problem.  After  a  week  spent  on 
the  ground,  during  which  I  visited  every  school  in  the  city, 
both  elementary  and  high,  many  of  them  several  times,  and 
inspected  every  proposed  site  for  a  high  school,  I  think  I 
understand  the  nature  of  the  problem  with  which  the  city  is 
confronted  in  the  development  of  its  school  system. 

Several  solutions  have  been  put  forward.  One  of  these  in- 
volves the  use  'of  existing  high  schools  for  the  central  part  of 
the  city  and  the  building  of  a  third  high  school  to  acccommo- 
date  the  Hill  section.  Dr.  Snyder's  reasons  for  disapproving 
this  proposal  are  convincing  and  in  my  opinion  they  are  as 
valid  to-day  as  they  were  three  years  ago.  Not  only  is  the 
Central  High  School  unsuited  for  continued  use  as  a  high 
school,  but  the  Hill  section  will  not  for  many  years  to  come 
adequately  support  a  separate  high  school.  It  now  contributes 
but  340  pupils  toward  the  total  Central  High  School  enroll- 
ment of  946.  The  passing  years  have  served  to  strengthen 
the  argument  against  the  erection  of  a  third  high  school  at 
the  present  time.  Doubtless  the  time  will  come  when  this  will 
be  a  wise  plan  and  a  necessary  one,  but  in  my  judgment  Har- 
risburg should  become  a  much  larger  city  before  undertaking 
to  support  a  technical  high  school  and  two  general  high 
schools.  The  school  that  should  be  built  at  this  time,  there- 
fore, must  serve  the  high  school  needs  of  all  parts  of  the  city. 

Accessibility  then  is  of  primary  importance.  The  Arnold 
reports  makes  it  evident  that  Market  Square  will  always  be 
the  traffic  center,  no  matter  how  far  to  t*he  east  and  to  the  north 
the  city  may  in  time  extend.  For  many  years  to  come  a 

12 


high  school  located  reasonably  near  this  traffic  center  will  be 
more  accessible  to  pupils  whether  they  ride  or  walk  than  if 
placed  either  on  the  Hill  or  far  north  of  North  Street.  The 
car  lines  converge  at  this  point,  the  streets,  the  underpasses 
and  the  viaducts  lead  in  this  direction.  The  location  is  equally 
convenient  for  the  Hill  section  and  the  river  section.  No 
other  location  for  a  site  has  been  suggested  that  will  not  un- 
duly favor  one  of  these  sections  to  the  disadvantage  of  the 
other  section. 

It  is  certain  that  a  third  high  school,  if  erected  now  or  in 
the  near  future,  would  be  a  weak  high  school  compared  with 
its  larger  neighbor  and  it  could  not  offer  to  its  pupils  the  same 
advantages  that  the  larger  school  would  afford.  At  some 
future  time  a  third  high  school  will  be  a  wise  investment.  It 
might  be  well  now  to  purchase  ample  ground  in  the  direction 
in  which  growth  is  taking  place  and  simply  hold  it  for  future 
development.  Such  a  policy  is  common  in  park  development, 
and  Harrisburg  furnishes  a  conspicuous  example  of  wise  an- 
ticipation of  future  needs  in  its  purchase  of  the  extensive  tract 
known  as  Wildwood.  Had  the  city  retained  the  large  tract 
of  ground  it  once  owned  near  the  capitol,  its  present  high 
school  problem  could  be  more  easily  solved. 

Three  principal  suggestions  that  have  been  made  on  the 
theory  that  a  central  site  would  be  chosen  demand  attention, 
but  since  another  means  of  relief  that  has  been  proposed  would 
be  common  to  all  three  of  these  suggestions,  it  will  be  best  to 
discuss  this  common  element  first.  I  refer  to  the  proposal  that 
junior  high  schools  be  established  which  would  include  the 
high  school  freshmen  and  the  pupils  of  the  seventh  and  eighth 
grades. 

The  Junior  High  School  Plan.  There  is  little  that  is  new 
in  this  plan.  In  many  parts  of  the  United  States,  the  standard 
organization  of  elementary  schools  includes  small  primary 
schools  located  near  the  homes  of  the  pupils,  and  large  cen- 
trally located  grammar  schools  for  the  children  of  the  upper 
grades,  usually  the  seventh  and  eighth,  though  often  the  sixth 
is  included.  In  schools  so  organized,  the  pupils  of  the  upper 
grades  in  each  central  school  are  so  numerous  that  they  can 
be  grouped  in  classes  somewhat  homogeneous  as  to  advance- 
ment and  working  power,  and  departmental  teaching  can  be 
introduced.  This  is  not  possible  in  schools  where  there  is  but 
a  single  class  of  seventh  or  eighth  grade  in  a  building,  or  at 
most  two  classes,  as  in  many  of  the  Harrisburg  elementary 
schools.  Under  the  junior  high  school  plan,  all  children  in 
elementary  schools  above  grade  VI  would  be  enrolled  in  two 

13 


or  three  of  the  larger  grammar  school  buildings  of  the  city, 
chosen  with  reference  to  their  accessibility.  In  these  schools 
departmental  instruction  would  be  begun  and  differentiated 
courses  would  be  introduced  to  provide  for  differences  in  in- 
dividual aptitude  or  aim  or  probable  life  career.  Among  the 
advantages  of  departmental  teaching  the  following  may  be 
mentioned :  Better  teaching,  better  equipment,  enriched  cur- 
riculum, promotion  by  subject,  improved  physical  conditions 
for  pupils,  interest  and  stimulus  of  several  teachers  instead 
of  one  only,  college  graduates  in  grammar  grade  positions, 
transition  to  high  school  attitude  and  methods. 

No  argument  is  needed  to  establish  the  fact  that  a  teacher 
can  become  more  expert  when  she  has  to  prepare  upon  only 
a  few  related  subjects,  and  these  subjects  also  in  the  line  of 
her  special  interests,  than  when  she  must  prepare  upon  the 
whole  round  of  subjects  now  taught  in  the  seventh  and  eighth 
grades  of  any  progressive  school  system.  Similarly,  it  is  a 
great  advantage  to  the  pupil  to  be  taken  on  from  grade  to 
grade  in  a  given  subject  by  the  same  teacher,  an  expert  in  the 
particular  subject.  Again,  no  argument  is  needed  to  show 
that  a  given  outlay  to  purchase  equipment  for,  say,  geography 
instruction,  will  go  much  further  when  applied  in  the  fitting 
up  of  a  single  room,  the  geography  teacher's  room,  than  when 
divided  up  among  several  rooms  to  give  each  of  several  teach- 
ers a  share  of  the  equipment  for  her  geography  lessons.  Every 
study  in  the  course,  being  in  the  hands  of  a  sort  of  specialist, 
will  be  taught  so  as  to  stir  interest  and  produce  truly  educative 
effects.  On  the  other  hand,  when  a  pupil  has  difficulty  with 
any  subject,  the  departmental  plan,  in  affording  a  medium  for 
promotion  by  subject,  makes  it  an  easy  matter  to  advance  this 
pupil  in  everything  in  which  he  has  been  successful,  while 
at  the  same  time  holding  him  back  for  review  upon  the  subject 
only  in  which  he  has  failed.  Pupils  also  enjoy  the  relief,  ac- 
tivity, and  variety  afforded  under  the  departmental  plan  by 
moving  from  room  to  room  as  the  periods  of  the  day  roll  by. 
Many  a  pupil  who  finds  school  irksome  and  monotonous  under 
the  one-teacher  plan  will  develop  a  new  interest  and  pleasure 
in  his  work  under  the  stimulus  of  several  teachers  co-operating 
in  departmental  organization. 

It  is  just  the  departmental  organization,  moreover,  that  will 
bring  into  the  grammar  grades  scholarly  and  enthusiastic  col- 
lege graduates,  for  college  graduates  entering  the  school  serv- 
ice have  quite  as  lively  an  interest  in  seventh  and  eighth  grade 
children  as  in  high  school  pupils;  but  the  task  of  teaching  the 
whole  work  of  a  grade,  including  subjects  quite  outside  the 

14 


teacher's  special  interests,  is  not  attractive  to  one  who  has 
gone  to  college  for  the  express  purpose  of  getting  superior 
knowledge  and  training  in  the  two  or  three  selected  subjects. 

Finally,  and  as  a  consequence  of  all  the  foregoing,  depart- 
mental instruction  in  grammar  grades  is  an  admirable  device 
for  mediating  the  transition  from  the  elementary  school  to  the 
high  school,  because  under  this  plan  pupils  are  introduced 
gradually  to  high  school  methods  and  assume  quite  easily  the 
high  school  attitude ;  and  although  this  consideration  may  be 
said  to  apply  only  to  the  pupils  who  go  on  to  the  high  schools, 
it  is  nevertheless  an  important  factor  both  in  determining  how 
many  will  thus  prolong  their  schooling  beyond  the  eighth 
grade  and  also  in  unifying  the  whole  school  system  of  a  city. 

The  junior  high  school  should  afford  a  certain  opportunity 
for  differentiation  of  work.  It  should  also  include  a  certain 
number  of  subjects  pursued  in  common  by  all  pupils.  Children 
of  this  age  should  not  be  set  apart  too  sharply  in  separate 
groups  according  to  the  lines  of  work  pursued.  In  arranging 
the  course  of  study  it  is  on  the  whole  desirable  to  give  a  list 
of  common  subjects  and  to  arrange  for  the  grouping  of  children 
for  recitation  purposes  with  refernce  to  those  common  sub- 
jects and  then  later  to  arrange  for  choices  among  the  optional 
subjects.  The  course  should  be  arranged  in  such  a  way  that 
promotion  will  be  by  subject,  so  that  pupils  of  different  degrees 
of  ability  or  health  may  not  have  their  progress  limited  by 
the  pace  of  the  slowest.  The  following  curriculum  carried  out 
in  the  Junior  High  School  of  Madison,  Wisconsin,  will  serve 
as  an  illutsration : 

CURRICULUM  OF  THE  WISCONSIN  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL, 
MADISON,  WIS. 

Seventh  Year. 

Elective. 

Required.  A 

/\. 

Periods  Periods 

per  week.  per  week. 

English  and  spelling,  5  German,    5 

Mathematics    (arithmetic),       5  Latin,  5 

History     (American)     and  French, 5 

Geography,    5 

Music,    B- 

Physical  education,  Sewing,  2l/2 

Elective,  10  or  5  Manual  Arts,  5 

Cooking,  2*/2 

20  Fine   and   Industrial   Arts,       2 

15 


Eighth  Year. 


Required. 


Periods 
per  week. 

English,    5 

Mathematics    (arithmetic),       5 
Science    (General   science)       5 

or — 
History     (American)     and 

Geography,    5 

Music,    

Physical  education,  

Elective,  ..  ..  10  or  5 


Elective. 

A. 

Periods 
per  week. 

Latin,  5 

German,    5 

French,   5 

B. 

Manual  Arts,  5 

Sewing,  „ 2 

Cooking,  3 

Fine   and   Industrial   Arts,  2 


20 


Ninth  Year. 


Elective. 


Required. 


Periods 
per  week. 

5 


English,    

Music,   

Physical  education,  

Elective,   15 

20 


Periods 
per  week. 

Latin,  5 

German,    „ 5 

History  (ancient),  5 

Physiography,  5 

Mathematics  (algebra),  ....  5 
Science    (biology,  agricul- 
ture),    5 

B. 

Manual  Arts,  5 

Food  Study, 5 

Fine   and   Industrial   Arts,  3 


To  summarize: 


There  are  four  principal  reasons  why  the  junior  high  school 
organization  is  better  than  the  traditional  eight  grades  plus 
four  high  school  grades.  First  it  takes  better  account  of  dif- 
ferences in  individual  ability  and  in  vocational  outlook;  sec- 
ond, it  makes  easier  the  transition  to  the  high  school;  third, 
it  makes  school  work  more  attractive  and  tends  to  hold  pupils 
for  a  longer  period  of  schooling;  and,  fourth,  it  furnishes  an 
opportunity  for  various  reforms  of  instruction. 

16 


Furthermore,  the  junior  high  school  plan  is  less  expensive 
than  the  ordinary  plan.  Buildings  of  the  grammas  school 
type,  if  supplied  with  auditorium  and  gymnasium  afford  satis- 
factory facilities  for  carrying  on  the  work  of  the  first  high 
school  year  along  with  that  of  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades. 
The  freshmen  always  constitute  rather  more  than  one-third 
of  the  total  high  school  enrollment.  Under  the  junior  high 
school  plan,  the  high  school  building  proper  need  be  but  two- 
thirds  as  large  as  it  would  have  to  be  under  the  ordinary 
plan, — a  very  decided  saving  when  the  comparative  cost  of 
the  two  types  of  building  is  considered.  The  saving  in  equip- 
ment is  not  so  pronounced  though  it  is  an  item  well  worth 
consideration.  Freshman  high  school  science,  for  instance, 
does  not  require  the  elaborate  apparatus  and  fixtures  which 
must  be  provided  for  the  individual  work  of  the  later  years. 
The  same  is  true  of  shop  equipment  for  first  year  pupils. 

As  I  have  already  indicated,  there  is  but  one  new  element  in 
the  junior  high  school  plan,  and  that  one  element,  which  con- 
sists in  deferring  for  one  year  the  transfer  to  the  high  school 
of  pupils  who  have  completed  the  work  of  the  elementary 
school,  has  been  so  thoroughly  tested  in  many  cities  that  it 
is  no  longer  an  experiment.  It  has  taken  its  place  among  the 
aporoved  plans  of  organization  and  is  fast  becoming  universal 
in  its  application.  In  my  opinion  the  plan  is  peculiarly  appro- 
priate for  Harrisburg.  A  careful  study  of  data  furnished  by 
Superintendent  Downes  and  Secretary  Hammelbaugh  leads 
me  to  recommend  that  three  junior  high  schools  be  estab- 
lished ;  one  in  the  Central  High  School  building,  when  vacated 
by  that  school  and  remodeled,  one  in  the  Camp  Curtin  build- 
ing with  auditorium  and  gymnasium  added,  and  one  on  the 
Hill  in  a  new  building  which  may  be  erected  on  the  unoccupied 
portion  of  the  site  of  the  Forney  school. 

The  following  tabulation  shows  approximately  what  enroll- 
ment each  junior  high  school  would  have  if  organized  in  the 
fall  of  1917,  and  the  number  of  rooms  in  each  building  which 
would  be  vacated  temporarily  and  thus  made  available  for 
future  growth : 

Junior  High  School  on  Hill,  approximately 
900  pupils,  leaving  vacant  rooms  as  follows : 

Foose,   1 

Shimmell,    5 

Woodward, 4 

Webster,   

Lincoln, 4 

Forney,    6 

Melrose, 3 

25 

17 


Junior  High  School,  Camp  Curtin,  approxi- 
mately 800  pupils  from  the  Camp  Curtin, 
Cameron,  Maclay  and  Hamilton,  leaving  va- 
cant rooms  as  follows : 

Cameron, 6 

Maclay,   4 

Hamilton,    3 

13 

Junior  High  School,  Central  High,  approxi- 
mately 550  pupils  from  Reily,  Penn,  Wicker- 
sham,  Verbeke,  Boas,  Willard,  Fager,  Stev- 
ens and  Harris,  leaving  vacant  rooms  as 
follows : 

Harris,   3 

Stevens, 1 1/2 

Fager,    2^ 

Willard, 4 

Boas,  

Verbeke 1 

Reily,  . . 3 

Penn,    1 

Wickersham 3]/2 

20  V2 


Total, 

The  Senior  High  School.  The  junior  high  school  plan  seems 
to  me  to  be  so  useful  a  factor  in  the  solution  of  the  general 
high  school  problem  before  us  that  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
recommending  its  adoption.  Accordingly,  in  further  discus- 
sion of  the  means  by  which  relief  may  be  had  for  the  Central 
High  School,  I  shall  proceed  upon  the  assumption  that  pro- 
vision need  be  made  for  pupils  of  the  last  three  high  school 
years  only. 

On  the  basis  of  the  1915-16  enrollment,  we  find  in  the  two 
high  schools  of  the  city  1,396  pupils  distributed  in  classes  as 
follows:  Freshmen,  478;  sophomores,  380;  juniors,  333;  se- 
niors, 205  ;  in  the  elementary  schools  in  grades  I  to  VI,  in- 
clusive, 7,184;  and  in  grades  VII,  VIII  and  IX  (a  disappearing 
grade),  853,  683  and  514,  respectively.  Under  the  organiza- 
tion here  proposed  we  should  have  as  before  in  grades  I-VI, 
7,184;  in  the  junior  high  schools,  2,528*;  and  in  the  Senior 
High  School  or  Schools,  918. 

*  Note: — This  number  cannot  be  used  for  comparison  since  in  it 
are  included  514  pupils  of  the  ninth  grade,  which  is  disappearing  each 
year  by  absorption  into  the  eighth,  ninth  and  first  year  high  school. 

18 


In  the  high  schools  as  now  organized  the  average  annual 
increase  of  boys  is  35  and  of  girls  37.  Without  changes  of 
organization,  it  is  evident  that  by  1925,  assuming  the  same 
rate  of  increase  to  continue,  instead  of  the  present  enrollment 
of  1,396  we  should  find  the  number  increased  by  720  pupils, 
making  a  total  of  2,116.  Better  facilities  than  are  now  pro- 
vided, especially  for  girls,  would  without  doubt  accelerate 
the  rate  of  increase  and  we  should  probably  find  the  number 
enrolled  in  1926  not  far  from  2,400. 

Under  the  junior  and  senior  high  school  organization  the 
number  of  pupils  to  be  provided  for  in  the  senior  high  school 
ten  years  hence  would  not  exceed  1,600,  since  800  freshmen 
would  be  housed  in  the  junior  high  schools.  Our  problem, 
then,  so  far  as  high  school  construction  is  concerned,  looking 
ten  years  ahead,  is  to  provide  for  an  enrollment  of  1,600  in 
the  senior  high  school  or  schools,  beginning  now  with  an 
enrollment  in  the  three  upper  classes  of  the  two  high  schools, 
totalling  918. 

For  the  next  ten  years  at  least,  for  reasons  already  given, 
a  central  site  will  best  meet  the  exigency.  In  this  respect  the 
Technical  High  School  is  well  located.  It  occupies  a  position 
near  the  point  where  the  street  car  lines  from  the  Hill  and 
the  River  sections  converge  and  it  is  within  walking  distance 
of  the  homes  of  the  majority,  if  not  all,  of  its  pupils.  This 
is  an  exceedingly  important  consideration,  as  it  is  a  factor 
which  exerts  great  influence  upon  high  school  attendance. 
This  school  has  the  further  advantage  of  fronting  on  the 
Capitol  Park  and  being  on  a  direct  line  of  travel  through  Wal- 
nut Street  to  Forster's  Island,  where  ample  school  athletic 
grounds  are  located.  The  new  school  should  have  an  equally 
favorable  location.  If  it  were  not  for  the  fact  that  ample 
playgrounds  are  already  provided  by  the  city  for  the  use  of 
the  high  schools,  the  argument  for  a  site  for  the  new  high 
school  larger  than  could  now  be  had  in  a  central  location 
would  have  considerable  force.  It  seems  to  me,  however,  that 
this  argument  can  not  properly  be  urged  till  regional  high 
schools  distant  from,  the  island  playground  are  called  for  by 
the  growth  of  the  city.  As  I  have  already  indicated,  it  would 
be  wise  to  anticipate  such  needs  provided  those  in  responsible 
charge  of  the  schools  can  determine  in  advance  what  locations 
will  be  centers  of  population  ten  or  fifteen  years  hence.  For 
the  present,  both  the  requirements  of  the  law  and  the  needs 
of  the  schools  are  met  by  the  playground  facilities  already 
provided.  This  will  be  equally  true  for  the  Junior  High  School 

19 


to  be  located  in  the  present  Central  High  School  building. 
Suitable  provision  should,  of  course,  be  made  for  playgrounds 
at  Camp  Curtin  and  the  Junior  High  School  on  the  Hill. 

If  the  block  of  ground,  a  portion  of  which  is  occupied  by  the 
Technical  High  School,  were  considerably  larger,  1  should 
favor  making  it  the  Senior  High  School  center  for  the  pupils 
of  the  two  schools,  both  girls  and  boys,  for  I  am  a  believer  in 
co-education  both  on  economic  and  educational  grounds.  I 
have  served  as  superintendent  under  both  systems  and  I  pro*- 
nounce  unhesitatingly  in  favor  of  co-education  through  the 
high  school  as  giving  better  training  for  citizenship  in  a 
democracy  than  segregation.  Where  boys  and  girls  are  sep- 
arated during  the  high  school  years,  the  teachers  are  deprived 
of  the  opportunity  to  direct  the  association  of  the  young  of 
the  two  sexes  and  they  thus  lose  an  educational  opportunity  of 
the  highest  value.  The  presence  of  girls  and  boys  in  the  same 
high  school  does  not  imply  that  they  work  together  in  every 
class.  Their  interests  divide  naturally  when  we  come  to  vo- 
cational courses.  They  are  together  in  enough  exercises  to 
gain  valuable  training  in  mutual  forbearance  and  respect  and 
are  by  themselves  in  exercises  which  are  appropriate  to  their 
varying  careers  as  future  men  and  women. 

This  solution,  which  I  should  consider  the  best,  was  made 
impossible  when  in  1904  the  city  entered  upon  a  policy  of 
segregating  boys  of  high  school  age  for  vocational  courses, 
erecting  a  school  for  this  purpose  a  site  too  restricted  in 
area  to  accommodate  a  central,  cosmopolitan  school  as  large 
as  would  now  be  needed. 

Three  plans  call  for  consideration.  I  will  designate  them 
as  Plan  A,  Plan  B  and  Plan  C. 

Plan  A.  Under  this  plan  the  Technical  High  School  would 
be  enlarged  and  vocational  courses  for  girls  would  be  added. 
A  new  school  would  be  erected  to  replace  the  Central  High 
School,  offering  general  and  college  preparatory  courses  dif- 
fering little  from  those  now  given.  Both  schools  would  be 
co-educational. 

Plan  B.  Under  Plan  B,  the  Central  High  School  would  be 
relieved  by  the  erection  of  an  entirely  new  co-educational 
school  in  a  central  location.  In  this  school  modern  facilities 
would  be  provided  for  household  arts  and  other  vocational 
work  for  girls,  while  the  courses  for  boys  would  remain  about 
as  at  present,  vocational  work  for  boys  being  already  pro- 
vided in  the  Technical  High  School. 

20 


Plan  C.  By  this  plan  all  high  school  boys  of  the  city  would 
attend  the  Technical  High  School  which  would  be  enlarged 
to  accommodate  them,  and  courses  now  offered  in  that  school 
would  be  added.  All  high  school  girls  of  the' city  would  be 
accommodated  in  a  new  building,  planned  with  especial  refer- 
ence to  their  needs  and  erected  in  an  equally  central  location. 

I  cannot  regard  Plan  A  as  the  best  possible  solution.  I 
should  fear  the  development  of  a  sort  of  social  stratification 
which  would  result  in  choice  of  courses  not  so  much  on  ac- 
count of  their  appeal  from  the  point  of  view  of  life  needs  as 
from  the  supposed  prestige  attached  to  attendance  upon  the 
school  which  carried  the  traditional  courses. 

A  high  school  system  thus  organized  seems  to  me  less  demo- 
cratic than  one  in  which  both  the  vocational  and  the  academic 
aim  may  be  realized  in  the  same  school. 

As  between  Plan  B  and  Plan  C,  my  preference  would  nat- 
urally be  for  Plan  B.  Notwithstanding  my  preference  for  co- 
education in  high  schools,  however,  I  hesitate  to  recommend 
Plan  B  because  I  do  not  think  co-education  is  carried  on  to 
good  advantage  when  the  ratio  of  boys  to  girls  is  as  small  as 
it  is  at  present  in  the  Central  High  School.  There  are  now 
enrolled  in  that  school  946  pupils,  of  whom  702  are  girls  and 
only  244  are  boys,  and  the  disparity  seems  to  be  increasing 
from  year  to  year.  Yet  in  the  entire  high  school  enrollment  we 
find  679  boys  and  702  girls,  a  very  even  division  of  sexes. 
With  the  addition  of  new  vocational  courses  for  girls  in  a 
modern  well  equipped  building,  there  would  inevitably  come 
a  large  increase  in  the  number  of  girls,  while  the  proportion 
of  boys  would  either  remain  stationary  or  diminish  since  the 
school  would  offer  no  new  courses  for  boys  to  offset  the  new 
courses  which  always  prove  so  attractive  to  girls  and  which 
tend  to  increase  the  numbers  attending.  Anticipating  that 
under  Plan  B  the  drift  of  boys  toward  the  Technical  High 
School  would  not  be  checked,  and  that  the  girls  would  always 
so  greatly  outnumber  the  boys  that  co-education  could  not  be 
at  its  best,  I  am  forced  to  express  preference  for  Plan  C,  which 
involves  complete  segregation,  over  Plan  B,  under  which  co- 
education would  be  carried  on  at  a  disadvantage. 

The  situation  as  I  see  it  is  this: 

(1)  A  single  co-educational  high  school  of  the  cosmopolitan 
type  large  enough  to  serve  the  city  for  the  next  ten  years 
cannot  now  be  considered  as  the  Technical  High  School  site 
would  be  too  small  to  afforcl  room  for  an  adequate  addition 
to  the  present  plant. 

21 


(2)  To  segregate  high  school  pupils  on  a  vocational  basis 
by  having  entirely  separate  schools  for  industrial  and  academic 
pursuits  is  objectionable  on  social  grounds. 

(3).  The  trend  established  in  1904  by  the  erection  of  a  sep- 
arate school  for  boys  has  become  a  controlling  factor  by  bring- 
ing about  in  the  Central  High  School  a  badly  balanced  enroll- 
ment of  the  two  sexes,  a  condition  which  increased  facilities 
for  girls'  work  would  still  further  exaggerate. 

We  arrive  inevitably,  then,  at  the  conclusion  that,  in  view 
of  all  the  circumstances,  Plan  C  offers  the  best  promise  of  a 
satisfactory  solution  of  the  high  school  problem.  It  involves 
sufficient  enlargement  of  the  Technical  High  School  to  accom- 
modate all  boys  of  the  last  three  high  school  years,  and  the 
erection  of  a  new  high  school  for  girls  of  the  corresponding 
years.  The  argument  that  this  plan  would  afford  a  maximum 
of  opportunity  to  both  boys  and  girls  at  the  minimum  of  expense 
is  without  doubt  valid.  For  instance,  pupils  preparing  for 
college  would  have  opportunity  to  elect  some  of  the  vocational 
courses  in  connection  with  their  academic  work.  On  the  other 
hand,  pupils  who  for  economic  or  other  reasons  must  look 
toward  wage  earning  in  their  choice  of  major  courses  could 
so  combine  the  academic  and  the  vocational  as  to  avoid  rinding 
college  doors  shut  against  them  should  change  of  circum- 
stances make  further  education  possible.  Obviously,  there  is 
much  in  favor  of  having  all  lines  of  school  work  likely  to  be 
needed  by  any  boy  or  girl  accessible  under  one  roof.  This 
is  why  the  cosmopolitan  type  of  high  school  is  so  desirable. 
The  nearest  approach  that  Harrisburg  can  now  make  to  this 
type  of  high  school  is  to  adopt  Plan  C  by  which  all  lines 
of  schooling  needed  by  the  boys  would  be  provided  in  one 
school  and  all  lines  needed  by  girls  in  another.  *The  new 
school  for  girls  should  include  all  the  facilities  and  accommo- 
dations, except -such  as  are  obviously  for  boys  only,  listed  by 
Dr.  Snyder  on  pages  16-18  of  his  report  as  being  essential  in 
a  high  school  of  modern  type.  A  central  location  is  desirable. 
It  should  be  west  of  the  railroad  and  not  farther  north  than 
Briggs  Street. 

I  am  the  more  inclined  to  recommend  this  plan  because  it  is 
to  be  limited  in  its  application  to  the  last  three  high  school 
years,  if  the  junior  high  school  plan  previously  recommended 
is  approved.  In  the  junior  high  schools,  we  should  retain 
the  advantage  of  co-education  through  the  freshman  year, 
separation  of  the  sexes  being  deferred  till  the  pupils  are  fifteen 

*  See  pages  5  and  6  for  list. 

22 


or  sixteen  years  of  age.  This  plan  does  not  involve  immediate 
enlargement  of  the  Technical  High  School.  The  capacity  of 
the  present  building  will  be  equal  to  the  demands  made  upon 
it  for  three  or  possibly  four  years  by  all  the  high  school  boys 
of  the  three  upper  classes.  Of  the  435  boys  now  in  attendance, 
at  least  145  are  freshmen.  Then  the  number  in  the  three  upper 
classes  cannot  at  most  exceed  290.  Since  the  capacity  of  the 
building  is  550,  room  would  be  available  for  the  160  upper 
class  boys  from  the  Central  High  School  with  room  remaining 
for  100  additional  pupils.  This  should  afford  a  safe  margin 
for  at  least  three  years'  growth.  Meanwhile  the  new  high 
school  for  girls  could  be  completed  and  occupied  and  not  till 
then  would  attention  need  to  be  given  to  enlarging  the  Tech- 
nical High  School. 

We  have  estimated  that  by  1925-6  the  combined  enrollment 
of  boys  and  girls  in  the  senior  high  schools  would  be  about 
1,600.  Assuming  that  the  same  even  division  of  the  sexes 
that  obtains  at  present  will  continue,  the  girls'  high  school, 
if  intended  to  serve  through  the  ten  year  period  1915-6  -  1925-6 
should  be  planned  to  accommodate  800  girls,  and  the  Technical 
High  School  the  same  number  of  boys. 

It  would  be  safer  in  my  judgment  to  build  a  girls',  school 
with  accommodations  for  1,000  pupils,  for,,  as  has  already  been 
pointed  out,  the  proportion  of  girls  now  attending  high  school 
in  Harrisburg  is  below  normal  and  is  likely  to  increase  when 
better  facilities  are  provided  for  their  education. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that,  exclusive  of  the  cost  of  the  site, 
such  a  school  can  be  erected  for  $350,000  and  that  the  cost, 
including  equipment  need  not  exceed  $380,000. 

The  cost  of  the  Technical  High  School  in  round  numbers 
was  as  follows : 

The  rear  building, $44,500. 

The  main  building, 230,000. 

Equipment  and  furnishing,   60,000. 


Total,  $334,500. 

Increasing  the  capacity  of  the  building  from  550  to  800 
should  add  5-11  to  the  total  cost  of  the  plant,  making  the  cost 
of  the  enlarged  building  $486,545.  Making  due  allowance  for 
present  increased  cost  of  construction,  we  shall  probably  need 
to  estimate  the  cost  of  the  addition  at  $175,000  making  the 
total  cost  of  the  enlarged  plant,  including  equipment  and  fur- 
nishings, somewhat  more  than  $500,000. 

23 


Summary. 

Improved  high  school  accommodations  are  greatly  needed. 

I  recommend  that  three  junior  high  schools  be  organized  to 
include  high  school  freshmen  and  pupils  of  the  seventh  and 
eighth  grade. 

I  recommend  that  a  new  high  school  be  erected  to  accom- 
modate all  girls  of  the  senior  high  school  age  and  that  all  boys 
of  senior  high  school  age  be  provided  for  in  the  Technical 
High  School. 

I  recommend  as  the  most  desirable  location  for  the  girls' 
high  school  a  site  near  State  House  Park,  preferably  fronting 
on  the  Park. 

The  higli  school  for  girls  should  be  large  enough  to  accom- 
modate 1,000  pupils  and  should  contain  the  most  approved 
facilities. 

The  cost  of  the  new  school,  including  furnishings,  need  not 
exceed  $380,000.  The  cost  of  an  addition  to  the  Technical 
High  School  large  enough  to  care  for  an  enrollment  up  to  800 
need  not  cost  more  than  $175,000,  including  equipment  and 
furnishings. 

Assuming  that  the  population  of  Harrisburg  will  increase 
as  rapidly  in  the  future  as  it  has  in  the  past,  such  accommoda- 
tions as  are  here  recommended  will  supply  the  high  school 
needs  of  the  city  until  1925  and  perhaps  a  year  or  two  longer. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

(Signed)       JAMES  H.  VAN  SICKLE. 


24 


Gaylord  Bros. 

Makers 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
PAT.  JAN.  21,  1908 


YC 


309703 


H3A3 


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